Piper is a ‘Braider Cell Operator’ at Parker Hannifin’s Hose Products Division facility in Manhattan, KS, and has been an employee for 12 years. He races locally at the Kansas City International Raceway, as well as other regional and national events.

He has been competing in drag racing for eleven years. Piper started out in a street car, and eventually moved up to the Super Pro series. "We’re really happy with our 2000 season, said Larry. We didn’t know if we would be able top the ‘Driver of the Year’ honor from 1999. More than 300,000 drivers competed in the bracket racing division this year, and only seven of us made it to the national finals in Pomona, so we feel pretty lucky."

More than 250 drivers were on hand at the Bandimere Raceway in Denver, CO on September 17th to compete for the Division 5 title. Twelve drivers from each participating track were invited for the championship event. Piper survived eight rounds of competition to claim the Super Pro crown. "I got some advice from friends that had traveled up there before, he said. Without that it would have been tough to adjust the car for the high altitudes."

Piper’s saving grace throughout eliminations was his reaction time. "I was doing my job at the starting line, but I really had a hard time getting the car dialed," he said. "I was really hoping to be more consistent. I had a pretty good day of driving the finish line and was just fortunate that nobody busted me."

The local ParkerStore in Olathe, KS (Prime Industrial) has sponsored the team for the past two seasons. "Bill Baethke has been a great supporter of our racing program, added Piper. It’s because of the sponsors that we are able to get out and go racing".

The Piper Racing Team would like to step up and run for the World Championship in the Super Comp division in 2001. This would include competing at many more of the national events across the country and some possible television coverage.